Cafe, March 26th, 2017 I sat next to Rob in a cafe. He was drawing a portrait of a woman. He showed me some of his earlier work – portraits and vacant-eyed rabbits with graphic novel-style statements about self-perception. We chatted about art, about his situation, about “giving up.” I found out that [...]Read Full Article →

F train, February 20th, 2017 I call some women on the train “New York City royalty.” They have lived here their whole life. They are wise. Elegant. They embody New York. They make you feel good. They teach you something. Jackie is one of these women. She sat next to me [...]Read Full Article →

Brooklyn Cafe, March 1st, 2017 Ben and Ricky were having a conversation. I took a liking to them. They were so darn bright. I asked them to write poems. It’s so wonderful to get two stranger poems at the same time. They were in the same conversation but their poems were [...]Read Full Article →

Brooklyn Cafe, March 1st, 2017 They were across from me at the cafe. One was wearing a Columbia sweatshirt. I’ve been teaching Columbia students for years, but I almost never get to hear them converse outside of class. I eavesdropped. I couldn’t help it. They were charming. It was the speed [...]Read Full Article →

2 train, 72nd Street to Clark Street Station, February 2nd, 2017 Judy had a protest sign and was glowing in pink. She had written a wonderful chant. I thought it would make a good poem, but she preferred to send me a new one. She was on her way to a protest. [...]Read Full Article →

Dumbo Cafe, Januadey 14TH, 2017 He’s a Disney animator on an adventure. He purchased a one way ticket from LA to NYC. This was his first NYC snow. Snow equals love for many of us. It’s snowing right now, the kind of snow that you hear about and only see on [...]Read Full Article →

Facebook, January 30th, 2017 We are strangers, but somehow friends on Facebook. Stan has a gorgeous book of photographs of scenes on subways around the world. Each photo has a poem in it. They don’t show the subway freak show. Instead the photos show a dance of glances and the strange relatedness of [...]Read Full Article →

4 train to J to F at Delancy / Essex, January 29th, 2017 (technically the 30th) My birthday. The trains were rerouted. It was 1AM and I had no idea how I would get to Brooklyn. A stranger said I could follow her. She was very self-assured and her hair was [...]Read Full Article →

3 train, 96th Street to 14th Street, January 26th, 2017 My train practice has been on hold. It has been too difficult to get the vibe to ask. Today I needed to ask, needed to get back in the swing of talking to someone, if only to counteract the collective nightmare. [...]Read Full Article →

Brooklyn Cafe, January 17th, 2017 Her first snow! She’s a tourist from Australia – a recent college graduate. All the tourists that day were writing about love. Flurries coming down, Mesmerrizing, swirling, white A hot coffee. Numb fingers. Red noses. Remembering that other time We wore all white And people took [...]Read Full Article →